The present invention relates to a sprinkler valve for wet sprinkler systems and more particularly to a sprinkler valve which can be tested for flow without activating the sprinkler system.
Sprinkler systems or fire protection systems incorporating sprinkler head valves are used in various applications and configurations to help control and extinguish fires that may occur. Such fire protection systems commonly utilize a network of sprinkler pipes for conducting a fire extinguishing medium, such as water, to a plurality of automatic sprinklers which are arranged to cover the area protected. Two common types of automatic sprinkler systems are the wet pipe type and the dry pipe type.
In the dry pipe system, the network of sprinkler pipes contain a gas, such as air, rather than the first extinguishing medium. A supply of the first extinguishing medium is connected to the sprinkler system by a dry pipe valve which can be opened automatically upon the occurrence of a first to permit the fire extinguishing medium to enter the sprinkler system and discharge from the sprinkler heads. The dry pipe sprinkler system is normally utilized in unheated areas where the piping may be subjected to freezing temperatures, such as a warehouse.
In wet pipe systems, the sprinkler pipes are filled with a fire extinguishing medium, usually water, and connected to a supply of the medium. Individual sprinkler heads are normally closed but are designed to open in response to a heat activated sensor such as an alloy insert which melts when the ambient temperature reaches a predetermined value, commonly in the neighborhood of 135.degree.-165.degree. F.
The sprinkler head valve of the subject invention is to be used with wet pipe type sprinkler systems where there is water pressure up to and including the sprinkler head valve itself. Aborad ship, such sprinkler systems and valves are located in weapons magazines and other strategic areas. The sprinkler head valves located in such areas are installed in the sprinkler system and then left inactive for long periods of time with no means for testing the valves and assuring that the valves will operate in the event of a fire.
It is a disadvantage of prior art sprinkler valves that, during these periods of inactivity, the sprinkler valves can become corroded shut, clogged or become completely inoperative with no way of ascertaining that the valve has become inoperative. Another disadvantage of such valves is that the only way to test each sprinkler head valve for flow is to activate the sprinkler system and observe which valves are inoperative. In an area such as a weapons magazine, activation of the sprinkler system can result in damage to the components stored in the magazine and thus is to be avoided. The sprinkler valve of the subject invention provides a valve which can be individually tested for flow of the fire extinguishing medium without activating the sprinkler system.